New Map Reveals Worldwide Impacts of Climate Change
17 Jul 2014 10:42 AM
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office launched a new map to show the impact of global climate change.
The Human Dynamics of Climate Change map, developed by the Met Office Hadley Centre shows a range of potential impacts:
- Temperatures on the warmest days of the year rising by 6°C or more across Europe, parts of Asia and part of North America
- An increase in risk of flooding across 70% of Asia
- The number of days of drought going up by more than 20% in parts of South America, Australia and Southern Africa
- Maize yields falling by up to 12% in Central America
- Sea temperatures rising by up to 4°C in some parts of the world
- Millions of people flooded due to sea level rise, particularly in East, Southeast and South Asia
The map illustrates how climate change could affect the global economy as regions connected by trade are affected by changes in crop yield, droughts, flooding and high temperatures. It also shows how many already water-stressed regions of the world could face an increase in the frequency and duration of droughts, at the same time as an increase in demand for water for agriculture and for the consumption of a growing population.
Foreign Office Minister, Mark Simmonds said:
This map shows how the impacts of climate change on one part of the world will affect countries in other parts of the world, particularly through the global trade in food. This reinforces the point that climate change is a global problem: no country is immune, and we all need to work together to reduce the risks to our shared prosperity and security.
Dame Julia Slingo, the Met Office Chief Scientist, said:
We’ve used the latest science to assess how potential changes in our climate will impact people around the world. This map presents that information together for the first time. While we see both positive and negative impacts, the risks vastly outweigh any potential opportunities.
The launch event included a discussion on climate change led by Sir David King, the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change and Sir Mark Walport, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser.
Find the map here.
The British Government considers climate change to present a great risk to our future global prosperity and security. So as well as reducing emissions domestically, the UK is also working closely with a wide range of countries to achieve effective global action to limit climate change to 2°C. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office uses its worldwide network of Embassies and High Commissions to support this effort.
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